Hand Operated Computer Input Device with Palm Heel Support

1. A hand operated input device for a computer system, comprising: a housing that includes an upper casing and a lower casing coupled to the upper casing; wherein a flat horizontal support surface for an entire palm heel is integral to the upper casing and parallel to a bottom surface of the input device, whereby in use a hand of a human user is in a relaxed neutral cupped position wholly on top of the input device and a wrist is generally stretched out flat and relaxed, wherein there is no pressure placed on a median nerve in the hand and there is no angle at the wrist to prevent a repetitive strain injury; and there is no support surface for an upper palm area of the hand, and no support surface for a metacarpal bone, a proximal finger segment, or an intermediate finger segment of the hand; therefore the upper palm, metacarpal bones, and proximal and intermediate finger segments do not touch the input device.

2. The input device of claim 1 , whereby in use, the hand is not flat across or rolled inward over the input device, because there is no support surface for the palm of the hand, but the hand is cupped on top of the input device while maintaining the flat relaxed wrist position to prevent the repetitive strain injury.

3. The input device of claim 1 , wherein the palm heel support surface is configured that the wrist is generally stretched out in the relaxed position and makes no contact with the input device, a desktop, a tabletop, or a mouse pad surface to eliminate pressure and rubbing against the wrist of the user's hand.

4. The input device of claim 1 , wherein the palm heel support is configured such that all of a weight of the user's hand and arm is supported only by the user's entire palm heel, whereby in use, because of a natural thickness of a thenar and hypothenar eminence muscles on each side of the median nerve in the palm heel, the weight and pressure from the user's hand and arm is not placed on the median nerve, or shared between the palm, metacarpals, proximal and intermediate finger segments, palm heel, wrist, or a forearm of the user; but the pressure and weight of the user's hand and arm is focused on the thicker, fleshy, palm heel of the user found in nature on each side of the median nerve.

5. The input device of claim 1 , wherein the housing is configured for manual movement by both the hand and arm of the user as one unit across a surface so as to permit a corresponding movement of a screen object on a display of the computer, wherein a lateral motion at the wrist of the user's hand created when moving a typical computer mouse by keeping a forearm of the user's hand stationary and moving just the hand is reduced.

6. The hand operated input system of claim 1 , wherein a measurement from the top of the palm heel support surface to the bottom surface of the computer input device may have a predetermined height; wherein the user's hand still maintains the relaxed cupped position on top of the input device, while the palm heel is not at an angle to a work surface, and the palm heel, wrist, and forearm of the user are still parallel to the bottom surface of the computer input device, and an associated shoulder and upper arm of the user's hand are in a relaxed comfortable position; not flexed up or down, and not in a stressed position.

7. The hand operated input system of claim 1 , wherein a measurement of the palm heel support surface or the entire computer input device may have a predetermined width, wherein the user can still depress, scroll, and manipulate a pointing device portion while the hand remains in the relaxed cupped position.

8. The hand operated input system of claim 1 , wherein a measurement of the palm heel support surface or the entire computer input device may have a predetermined length, wherein the user can still depress, scroll, and manipulate a pointing device portions while the hand remains in the relaxed cupped position and the wrist remains stretched out and relaxed.

9. The input device of claim 1 , wherein the palm heel support surface is flat and does not pivot or move in any direction other than any flexibility in the material used for the palm heel support surface which keeps the palm heel, wrist, and a forearm parallel to a work surface while a corresponding shoulder and upper arm are relaxed and not stressed or flexed up or down.

10. The hand operated input system of claim 1 , further comprising a neck portion integrally extended between a pointing-device portion and the palm heel support surface, that may have a predetermined length to establish the relaxed cupped hand position wherein; the neck portion is not a support surface for any part of the hand therefore, a shape of the neck portion is only a cosmetic choice and may not be generally concave.

11. The hand operated input system of claim 10 , wherein a top surface is configured with an aesthetically shaped concave neck portion that integrally extends to slope generally upwards to form the support surface for the entire palm heel.

12. The input device of claim 1 , wherein a top surface of the palm heel support is positioned at a higher elevation or equal to the highest elevation of any other top surface along the upper casing, wherein a measurement between the top of the palm heel support surface and the top surface of a pointing-device portion may have a predetermined height to establish the relaxed cupped hand position.

13. The input device of claim 12 , wherein a modification to provide the palm heel support surface is adaptable to a low profile computer input device and generally adaptable to hand operated computer input devices.

14. The input device of claim 1 , whereby in use only a width of the user's palm heel and distal finger segments or finger tips touch the input device.

15. The input device of claim 14 , whereby the user's fingers are allowed to freefall down on to the input device to use the finger tips or distal finger segments to more easily select a button, wheel, ball, knob, and other control surfaces on the computer input device because; the user's palm, metacarpals, and proximal and intermediate finger(s) segments do not touch the computer input device, and the palm heel of the user's hand is elevated to a highest or equal to the highest surface on a top surface of the input device.

16. The input device of claim 15 , whereby in use, the fingers from a MCP joint (knuckles) forward are freely leveraged downward eliminating any strain to press, scroll, or otherwise select widgets on the computer input device surface whereby: the user's hand is cupped and relaxed on top of the computer input device, an angle between the user's palm heel and a work surface is eliminated, and the palm heel is on or equal to the highest point on the top surface of the computer input device.

17. The hand operated input system of claim 16 , when applied to the input device with a tracking ball, the height of the flat horizontal palm heel support surface relative to the top surface of the tracking ball; allows the hand of the user to be cupped on top of the input device, wherein the tracking ball is moved with the user's distal finger segments, while maintaining the palm heel parallel to the work surface, and the stretched out relaxed wrist position.

18. The input device of claim 1 when applied to a vertical computer input device, wherein the horizontal palm heel support surface is only for a blade edge, ulnar edge side of the palm and palm heel, adjacent to a fifth digit of the user's hand to prevent pressure or rubbing the side edge of the user's hand, wrist, and forearm along a work surface or mouse pad.

19. The input device of claim 18 wherein a weight of the user's hand and arm is supported on the blade edge side of the user's palm and palm heel; and the horizontal palm heel support surface does not support a palmar side of the hand, a pinky finger, the finger segments, or the wrist of the user's hand, and may be symmetrical and centered around a pointing-device portion, or asymmetrical and more to one side of the pointing-device portion.